Archive
Everything published by Hospitalogy.
August 2023
- AUG 10CVS Health Bets the House: 4 Takeaways from CVS Health’s Second Quarter EarningsBefore I dive more broadly into key themes from Q2, I wanted to specifically jump into the CVS earnings report, as it was chock full of lots of info covering a lot of big things happening right now. Definitely take the time to read the CVS transcript!
- AUG 7Analyzing HCA, Tenet, CHS, and UHS Q2 2023 PerformanceAs you can see, the for-profit hospital operators enjoyed strong same-store volume growth. On the outpatient side, HCA’s surgical volumes grew 4.0% while Tenet’s USPI ambulatory surgery cases rose by 6.3%.
- AUG 3Amazon’s Emerging Healthcare StrategyAmazon’s activity and movement toward critical mass in healthcare is picking up steam. The retail ecommerce giant has made a number of plays across AWS and cloud, but also interestingly, in care delivery (both virtual and in-person) and pharmacy.
- AUG 1Amazon’s New Healthcare AI PlayAmazon launches HealthScribe, Sanford and Fairview call off their $14B merger, Surescripts monopoly settlements, and more healthcare news
July 2023
- JUL 27The Vertical Integration Imitation GameToday we’re diving back into the world of vertical integration since it’s such a dominant and fascinating strategy amongst the incumbent…
- JUL 25🏥 Family Reunion OverWe’re back with yet another edition of the Tuesday roundup. Time to put your love of healthcare to the test!
- JUL 20UnitedHealth Group’s Q2: A Blip on the RadarTurning back to crusty old healthcare for today’s piece after our panel this morning, all eyes were on UnitedHealth Group’s earnings call to keep a pulse on the latest trends. So, this newsletter is all about the big things I noticed from UNH’s earnings report across utilization trends, some bank commentary on Optum’s exposure to utilization from capitated arrangements, and more.
- JUL 18CMS Proposed Rates for 2024 and American Physician Partners goes downWe’re back to our regularly scheduled programming this week after some fun interludes.
- JUL 13The Hospitalogy Healthcare 1H 2023 Year in ReviewToday we’re diving into the major themes and trends from the first half of 2023.
- JUL 135 Notable Trends from Healthcare Spending Projections1. Healthcare Spending as a % of GDP to hit 19.6% by 2031 In June, CMS released its annual projection of national health expenditures…
- JUL 10What Healthcare Startups Can Learn from The Market’s Emerging WinnersWhile a cohort of 36 recently VC-backed public companies (Recent Publics) far underperformed 44 of their legacy peers (Legacy Publics) in 2022 (~4x greater average losses), that trend has reversed to date in 2023 (~2x greater average gains). On average, this cohort of Recent Publics estimates to grow roughly 3x as fast as legacy peers between 2022-2023 and also 2023-2024. Perhaps looking at this correlation alone may suggest that investors are once again starting to value growth over fundamentals and free cash flow. However, that’s not necessarily true.
- JUL 6🏥 Revisiting 2023 Healthcare PredictionsSince it’s the middle of the year and I’m getting back into the swing of things from vacation, I figured it’d be fun to revisit my…
June 2023
- JUN 27🏥 Optum wins againIf you’re reading this then that means I’ve successfully escaped the 115 degree heat index Dallas summer and I’m enjoying the cool breeze…
- JUN 19Healthcare Spending Projections and a Friday ShutdownLast week, CMS released its annual projection of national health expenditures, containing historical data through 2021. Driven by strong 65+ demographics growth, healthcare spending will outstrip broader GDP growth.As a percentage, spending is projected to rise from 18.3% in 2021 to 19.6% by 2031.
- JUN 15The Return of UtilizationHow the resurgence in outpatient volumes will shape future provider care delivery organization investment
- JUN 15🏥 Volume ReturnsWe saw a big drop off in managed care names as a result of some utilization commentary from UnitedHealth Group, so I figured it was worth…
- JUN 13The Anti-Consolidation vs. Consolidation EditionBJC Healthcare merges with Saint Luke’s, CMS announces a new advanced primary care model, and more healthcare news.
- JUN 8🏥 The Oscar Epic Part 2Happy Thursday! I went to Costco yesterday and restocked on Celsius so we’re taking things to the next level.
- JUN 7The Oscar OdysseyWe all know that many health tech names have struggled since going public. Insurtechs have been no different, as an incredibly difficult industry to crack for a new entrant. Today we’re diving into Oscar’s beginnings, its rise to public company, and then its fall into the abyss. Then, we’ll be taking a look at Oscar’s transformation and atonement for past transgressions, what’s on the horizon for the insurtech, and why, despite past slip-ups, Oscar could be poised for a major comeback.
- JUN 5Home Health Bidding WarsUnitedHealth Group is once again coming for a major home health player. After Option Health Care in early May announced its intention to merge with Amedisys in a deal valued around $10 billion (Amedisys comprising around $3.6B of the combined enterprise at the time), Optum announced an offer to acquire Amedisys outright in an all-cash deal at $100 / share.
May 2023
- MAY 295 infographics on the Big Picture Trends in Healthcare in 2023Today we’re taking a quick dive into some of the major stories that have emerged so far in healthcare in 2023, visualizing them, and understanding the bigger picture behind why things are happening.
- MAY 25Hippocratic AI: Hypocritical, or Not?On May 16, a16z and General Catalyst announced their latest venture investment, pumping $50 million in seed money into a new upstart called Hippocratic AI. The media blitz on this one was so strong, you might’ve thought that the firm had succeeded in raising Hippocrates from the dead. No – instead, Hippocratic AI will focus on building and enhancing a large-language model (LLM) specialized for healthcare to build AI applications. Similar.
- MAY 24The Hospital Strikes Back: Why Kaiser Permanente Formed Risant HealthToday we’re diving into the Risant Health developing story, including Kaiser’s decision to form the new health system and Geisinger’s decision to join it.
- MAY 23🏥 Part 2: The Hospital Strikes BackIf you're reading this I'm spending my last day in Charleston today, and I'll be back in action in Dallas tomorrow. Vacation over!
- MAY 16The Downfall of Babylon HealthThe Fall of Babylon: I don’t relish in the failure of digital health companies – or any business, really. I’m generally a very positive person and hope/wish for the best, especially in healthcare. But firms like Babylon and Envision kinda had it coming for the ways the companies treated investors and patients.
- MAY 11The Rise and Fall of Envision HealthcareThis week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Envision Healthcare, after a long and beleaguered battle, is expected to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Given Envision’s history, I thought it’d be interesting for subscribers to dive into a ‘post-mortem’ of sorts on what went wrong in the rise and fall of Envision Healthcare.
- MAY 9Breaking down the Option Care Health – Amedisys $10 Billion mergerDo you hear that sound? It’s the collective groan of equity analysts as they’re forced to update their models for the latest healthcare services merger between home & site infusion operator Option Care Health and home health & hospice provider Amedisys.
- MAY 5Everything you need to know from Privia Health’s Q1Today we’re diving into Privia Health’s Q1 2023 results which were stellar. As a reminder, Privia is an enablement company that partners with physicians to make their lives easier in fee for service land while transitioning patient panels to value-based care arrangements.
- MAY 1Everything healthcare M&A, finance, digital health, and partnerships so far in 2023If you’re reading this when it gets sent, I’m quite literally playing Pinehurst No. 2 right now! Yes, a 7am tee time, I know. Rough.
April 2023
- APR 26Inside the HCA and Augmedix Partnership with Augmedix Founder Ian ShakilToday we’re diving deeper into the HCA-Augmedix partnership announcement.Like we covered last week, Ambient documentation has emerged as a real use-case for AI in healthcare. I wanted to learn more about what’s going on, so I reached out to Augmedix’s founder Ian Shakil. I asked him some pointed questions about the partnership and space, and he was gracious enough to answer with a good amount of detail for Hospitalogy subscribers. I think you’ll enjoy his responses and I’ll mix in my thoughts as we move along.
- APR 25OneOncology’s $2.1 Billion Pay DayThe biggest M&A news of the week comes out of Nashville, Tennessee after TPG and Amerisource Bergen (ABC) announced the acquisition of OneOncology from General Atlantic for $2.1B.
- APR 20AI has entered the ChatDiving into AI in healthcare with an emphasis on Clinical Workflow and Ambient Documentation
- APR 18Froedtert and ThedaCare Merger Analysis, UnitedHealth Group Q1, and more healthcare newsWelcome back to another edition of Hospitalogy, where I break down the latest in the business of healthcare across M&A, finance, strategy, and innovation twice a week! This week we’re diving into the Froedtert-ThedaCare merger and UnitedHealth Group’s Q1.
- APR 13Healthcare M&A State of Play in 2023Recently a host of consulting firms have released reports revolving around valuation, private equity, and M&A activity throughout the healthcare landscape. Being the sicko I am, I read through each of these reports and thought it’d be useful for you guys to parse out some of the key trends and things I found interesting. To read them yourself and join the healthcare sicko community, here are the report links:
- APR 10The $500B company flying under the radarPretty soon we’ll be looking up in a decade and half of the physicians in the country will work for UnitedHealth Group. Love it or hate it, it’s happening. And somehow the acquisitions of a $500B company with 70,000 physicians under its belt are flying under the radar.
- APR 6The Truth about Hospital Financial LossesToday we’re diving into a recent discussion I’ve noticed around hospital finances – non-operating investment losses, what they are, and what…
- APR 4Digital Health Funding Updates, and Cano Health’s Rough 2023Rock Health released its update on digital health funding for Q1 with some notable tidbits, as funding has slowed down over the past few quarters when compared with the Covid bubble. As the advisory firm points out, 2023 funding is trending closer to 2019 levels assuming a steady run-rate in line with the last few quarters.
March 2023
- MAR 30Vibes at ViVE 2023: What I learned at one of health tech’s biggest conferencesFor much of the ViVE 2023 conference I was a fly on the wall listening in on interesting conversations, learning a whole lot, and seeing passionate founders connect with one another to advance innovation in healthcare. Here are some takeaways I had from ViVE 2023.
- MAR 28Oscar Goes Old SchoolOscar Health announced that Mario Schlosser is transitioning to President of Technology at Oscar. Who’s replacing him as CEO? Mark Bertolini. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the former CEO of Aetna, which sold to CVS for $69B in 2018 which begs the question…might we see Oscar prep for a sale? Something to keep an eye on, especially as Oscar shares skyrocketed 60+% as of this writing. Can’t wait to write about Oscar’s sale in 12-18 months!
- MAR 23I read MedPAC’s March 2023 report so you don’t have toIn this deep dive, I’ll be covering MedPAC’s broader executive summary along with hospital, physician, and payor dynamics, and my thoughts on these topics.
- MAR 21A week of Digital Health Startup Launches, Contigo’s SUD play, and Pear’s Fire SalePremier Health’s Contigo Health announced a really interesting partnership with virtual substance use disorder (SUD) provider Lionrock. The partnership creates a center of excellence aimed at removing the stigma of SUD. I was fortunate enough to catch up with Contigo’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jonathan Slotkin, who broke down the major points:
- MAR 16Hospitals’ new Normal and Health Tech’s OpportunityToday we’re diving into recent nonprofit hospital financial results, the new normal for hospitals, and what that might mean for health tech operators.
- MAR 14Inside Best Buy’s big bet on the HomeAlthough Best Buy is leaning into Current to develop enterprise partnerships with health systems, let’s call this what it is – a way for Best Buy to retain and grow retail sales through sticky vendor relationships. Healthcare revenue amounts to nothing in the larger Best Buy organization. It’ll be a while until Best Buy Health is taken seriously. From the Q4 commentary: “We are essentially nurturing a startup within a large-scale organization and leveraging Best Buy’s core assets, including the Geek Squad to incubate a new business. The revenue contribution is currently very small and will take time to ramp as the Care at Home space matures and expands over the coming years.”
- MAR 8More Hot Takes on Physician Owned HospitalsI’m happy to present the first Hospitalogy guest post from Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, who recently began writing his newsletter Dem Dry Bones which pontificates on healthcare and health tech from a physician perspective. I’ve also added in some interesting subscriber perspectives on the physician-owned hospital debate at the end of this post.
- MAR 7UnityPoint-Presbyterian Merger, North Carolina Healthcare Reform, and Walmart Health Expansion PlansThis week’s Hospitalogy roundup includes North Carolina’s historic healthcare reform, mergers between UnityPoint and Presbyterian, and Walmart
- MAR 2Physician-Owned Hospitals: Good or Bad?There’s been discussion around physician-owned hospitals (POHs) after Senator James Lankford reintroduced a bill – the Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act (PAHQHCA – unreal) – that would repeal the ban on POHs. So I figured, why not dive into the two sides of the debate today?
February 2023
- FEB 28Humana’s Irish Exit from the Commercial MarketsGood morning, If you’re in the Austin area for SXSW, join us at our event on 3/12!
- FEB 23Revisiting the LHC Group and Optum $6 Billion DealIn April 2022, a few weeks before launching Hospitalogy, I had the privilege of guest posting on The Health Care Blog (big thanks to Matthew Holt & co). The essay was one of my first deep dives and broke down the announced Optum acquisition of LHC Group for $5.4B, or around $6.4B including debt. Today I’m re-upping that essay and revisiting what has changed since the announcement. This updated essay will touch on similar issues but provides updates in light of recent vertical integration development, challenges facing the home health industry.
- FEB 20A Hospital Valentines’ Day BreakupCommonSpirit Health and AdventHealth, two of the largest nonprofit health systems in the U.S., decided to end their joint operating agreement (JOA) Centura Health – on Valentine’s day, no less! The two will unwind Centura Health’s 20 hospital footprint, with 5 hospitals sitting with Advent and the remaining 15 under CommonSpirit (legacy Catholic Health Initiatives) operation.
- FEB 154 Charts on the State of Hospitals in 2023Taking a dive into the top trends affecting hospitals in 2023, including evolving M&A strategy, physician employment dynamics & more
- FEB 14OneOncology’s $2B Sale Rumor and Players to watch in the Cancer Care SpaceBloomberg reported on February 6th that General Atlantic is weighing a $2B sale of its cancer-specific MSO platform, OneOncology.
- FEB 9CVS, Oak Street Health, and the Great Payor Vertical Integration WarI don’t think our healthcare system wants us to sleep this week!
- FEB 7CVS Health – I was wrong about Oak Street HealthCVS is close to buying the value-based care clinic operator for $10.5B including debt, or $39/share. That’s a ~50% premium to its closing price yesterday of $25.96
- FEB 2What HCA Healthcare is telling us about healthcare in 2023Given how much services organizations are dealing with right now in 2023, I thought it’d be worthwhile to jump into HCA Healthcare’s full year 2022 results as well as what the HCA team expects for 2023. Lots of golden nuggets in this one for fellow hospital operators and provider orgs across:
January 2023
- JAN 30Tia’s latest partner: Cedars-SinaiHow the public health emergency unwinds, Tia’s partnership with Cedars-Sinai, Amazon launches RxPass, and more healthcare news
- JAN 26🏥 Age of EnablementIf you've followed Hospitalogy since launch, you probably know that I'm a big fan of physician enablement platforms.
- JAN 23Dollar General: The Rural Healthcare Savior, or a Fraud?I was all hyped up to start off this newsletter with “How bout them Cowboys?!?!?” But alas…hello darkness my old friend. The real question is whether Dollar General is a fraud just like the Cowboys, or if they’re actually doing something in healthcare. Let’s find out!
- JAN 19Why Public Benefit Corporations are a game changer in HealthcareAledade made an interesting strategic move this week, and I wanted to jump into their reasoning behind becoming a public benefit corporation (PBC), what a PBC is, and how public benefit corporations are a great fit for healthcare.
- JAN 17Intermountain’s Newest PartnerDid I really witness what I think I did last night? 4 missed extra points? 4?! In a row? Unfathomable. But I’ll take the Cowboys W though.
- JAN 11First Dollar: Flexible Health Benefits InfrastructureToday we’re taking a deep dive into the healthcare benefits space. The First Dollar team provided me with some behind the scenes intel on what’s going on in the healthcare benefits space, their business model, the pain points they solve for their customers, and what’s next at the intersection of healthcare and fintech.
- JAN 10What to know about the CVS-Carbon Health Deal and what it means for HealthcareCVS Seals the Primary Care Deal with Carbon Health
- JAN 52022 Year in Review: 13 trends that shaped the Healthcare LandscapeWelcome to the Hospitalogy 2022 Year in Review, where we cover every major healthcare news story in 2022! It’s a good primer to get started if you’re looking to get caught up on all of the key news and trends in healthcare. Some of these stories might look familiar to long-time subscribers since they are repurposed and published into this report!
- JAN 38 Healthcare Predictions for 2023 and what market signals are telling us about the year aheadBased on discussions with industry folks, market signals buried in earnings and disclosures, and our often misguided internal dialogues, here are some of our predictions for healthcare in 2023.
December 2022
- DEC 29Hospitalogy 2022 WrappedToday’s post is quick, and was a fun one for me. It dives into everything Hospitalogy – how things went in 2022, growth, expectations for 2023, challenges I faced as a creator, and more.
- DEC 22Hospitalogy Choice Awards 2022My picks for the best healthcare content and reads in 2022
- DEC 19Truepill, Cerebral, and the Virtual Mental Health SwampThis week’s Hospitalogy roundup dives into the poor state of the virtual mental health market and more healthcare news
- DEC 155 Insights from Next Generation ACO Results in 2021Today will be all about NGACO performance, context for results, and interesting data points from the analysis.
- DEC 12Cuban’s next target: EmployersThis week’s edition of Hospitalogy dives into Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug’s move into the employer generics market and more.
- DEC 8Chatting up ChatGPT on HealthcareI’ve been messing around with ChatGPT, a sophisticated artificial intelligence chatbot that has taken the world by storm given its super interesting capabilities. Today I’m diving into the questions I asked it, what I think its current best use cases are for healthcare, and the big limitations it presented.
- DEC 55 Notable Observations from 2021 Direct Contracting ResultsOn November 29, CMS published the results for the 53 entities participating in the Global and Professional Direct Contracting program. After diving into the results, here are some of the biggest takeaways.
- DEC 1Breaking down UnitedHealth Group’s Investor Day and what it means for Healthcare in 2023Today we’re diving into UnitedHealth Group’s (”UHG”) investor day since the $360 billion a year in revenue company can signal a lot to us about what to expect in 2023!
November 2022
- NOV 28Amwell, Talkspace, and the state of the Mental Health MarketThis week’s healthcare news from Hospitalogy includes Amwell potentially buying Talkspace, Oak Street Health earnings analysis, and more.
- NOV 264 Things to be Thankful for in Healthcare in 2022Sometimes I think healthcare discourse can get pretty negative. So here are some things I’m thankful for and organizations doing the most in healthcare.
- NOV 212022: Year of the Cross-Market Health System Mega-MergerAnnounced this week, Sanford Health is planning to merge with Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services in what would create a $14B, 58-hospital merger. Get used to these types of cross-market mergers. The FTC is cracking down on ‘horizontal’ or ‘market dominating’ M&A, but it’s much harder for the Commission to challenge cross-market mergers given current precedent.
- NOV 17Amazon Clinic: What Amazon’s Direct-to-Consumer Launch Means for Hims, Ro, and HealthcareAmazon is focusing most of its healthcare efforts on what it knows best: the consumer. Amazon Clinic is a healthcare play that meshes well with the core strengths of the retail giant.
- NOV 14Privia’s Q3, Nomi Health’s Game-Changing Fintech Launch, and the Insurtech ExodusThis week’s healthcare news includes Privia Health highlights, Nomi Health’s launch of Connect, and insurtechs exiting the MA space.
- NOV 10The 52 Best Healthcare Newsletters and Websites to Follow in 2022I consume a ton of healthcare content and wanted to share my favorite and the best healthcare newsletters and websites to follow in 2022
- NOV 7VillageMD ties the $9 Billion knot with Summit HealthCombined, VillageMD NewCo will operate 4,100 providers (2,150 primary care physicians), 680 locations, 7 million patients, and 125,000 full-risk Medicare Advantage lives. That’s a pretty big deal (pun absolutely intended) as NewCo vaults itself into becoming one of the largest primary care providers in the country and geographically dense (an important feature in value-based care) in the Northeast.
- NOV 3The 6 Biggest Health Tech and Services Deals in 2022This essay breaks down the top 6 health tech and services deals from 2022, including Amazon-One Medical, Advocate-Atrium, and more.
- NOV 1Walgreens, Summit Health, and a $10B price tag?Do you hear that? The M&A rumor mill is swirling once again! This time, it’s a substantial one. Walgreens is reportedly in talks to acquire the massive healthcare organization Summit Health. According to unnamed sources first reported by Bloomberg, the deal would value Summit between $5B and $10B. Yes, billion with a B.
October 2022
- OCT 27Retail Health updates from Amazon, CVS, Walgreens, and WalmartI’ve been looking into the retail health players recently (Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Amazon). Here’s an update on what they’ve done in 2022.
- OCT 25HCA and Tenet’s Q3 and Cerebral’s 1,000 employee layoffThis week’s news round up dives into HCA and Tenet’s Q3, Cerebral’s 20% workforce layoff, and Apple’s health insurance rumors
- OCT 20Meet Healthcare’s Latest Middleman: Healthcare Staffing FirmsWhile most operators expected the staffing firm explosion to settle down, it has actually stuck around in the midst of labor shortages and increased investment from venture and private equity players. Here’s what’s going on and why staffing firms now have staying power for the long-term.
- OCT 18Everything you need to know from UnitedHealth’s Q3Breaking down UnitedHealth Group’s Q3 2022 performance and other notable healthcare business news from the week.
- OCT 13Insurtechs vs Incumbents: Why Bright, Oscar, and Clover Struggle to Compete with the Health Insurance TitansI’m here to explain why the health insurance business kinda sucks for new entrants.
- OCT 10Medicare Advantage Star Ratings and the bigger pictureThis week’s Hospitalogy news roundup includes Medicare Advantage star ratings and everything else healthcare from the week.
- OCT 6The 19 Biggest Healthcare Business Stories from Q3 2022Here’s what happened in the business world of healthcare during Q3 2022.
- OCT 6🏥 Q3 in ReviewThis week’s send is a doozy and should catch up all you busy healthcare folks on what’s going on in our crazy world!
- OCT 3Value-Based Specialty Care is on its wayThis week’s news roundup includes value-based specialty care news from OneOncology, hospital earnings comparisons between CommonSpirit and Ascension, and more.
September 2022
- SEP 29The Hospital needs to Evolve.Why the traditional hospital model is unsustainable and how the future of care delivery sits in integrated, regional healthcare systems.
- SEP 26Cano Health Catches a BidThis week’s Hospitalogy roundup dives into Cano Health’s takeover bid, CommonSpirit’s 2022 results, Envision’s bankruptcy, and more.
- SEP 22Is the Hospital Dying?Join 9,300+ smart, thoughtful healthcare folks and stay on top of the latest trends in healthcare. Subscribe to Hospitalogy today!
- SEP 19UnitedHealth Group stays winning with Change HealthcareGood morning, In case you missed it: last week I dove into the synthetic data space and how it’s a game changer for healthcare.
- SEP 14Syntegra and Synthetic Data: Solving Healthcare’s Data ProblemIn this essay, we’re going on a journey to understand the growing demand for accessible and actionable healthcare data. I’ll explain why synthetic data in particular holds a unique opportunity to unlock care innovation across healthcare. Finally, we’ll get into why synthetic data holds the potential to solve a solid portion of the pesky, legendary data privacy vs. utility tradeoff that plagues data accessibility in healthcare.
- SEP 12Enter: WalmartWelcome back to another edition of healthcare news. Healthcare never sleeps, fam.
- SEP 8🏥 Healthcare's Data ProblemI’m incredibly excited to share this newsletter with you guys.
- SEP 5Healthcare’s Labor Day Sale – Signify HealthI hope all of my fellow Hospitalogists enjoyed a restful Labor Day weekend!
- SEP 1The 22 Best Healthcare Business FollowsThis newsletter is all about my favorite healthcare business influencers and why you should consider following them too.
August 2022
- AUG 29Amazon is just getting started in HealthcareFrom the outside looking in, the headline about Amazon Care shutting down appears as if Amazon is calling it quits on healthcare. But that’s far from the truth.
- AUG 25The Battle Between Home Health and CMS over the 2023 Proposed RuleAfter CMS proposed a $810 million cut to home health services in 2023, agencies are fighting back. Here’s the story.
